The Elba 2003 Workshop
                      Marciana Marina, May 27-30, 2003

                       STAR FORMATION NEAR AND FAR
                             THE ALMA PROMISE


Every year the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri organizes an international
workshop at the Elba International Physics Center in Marciana Marina. The venue
is located on the Elba Island, a well known sea resort a few miles from the
Tuscany coast. The workshop is limited to a maximum of 70 participants. 

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) project reached an important
milestone last summer when both partners, Europe and North America,
officially approved the construction phase. Italy is participating in
this project as an ESO member state. ALMA is expected to start the first
scientific operations in 2007 and to reach a full completion in 2011.

The main aim of the workshop is to review the current status of the
project and its promise for Star Formation studies in Galactic, 
Extragalactic and Cosmological contexts. The workshop is dedicated to 
the European and Italian communities, with the main goals of promoting 
ALMA and its scientific impact and to stimulate a lively scientific
discussion on the expected capabilities and results in different research 
areas.

The workshop format and the venue are designed to offer a friendly and lively
discussion setting, bringing together the most active researchers in the area.
There will be no printed conference proceedings, all presentations will be
made available electronically through the workshop web pages.

The main scientific topics cover: Molecular Clouds, High and Low-Mass Star
Formation, Circumstellar Disks and Planetary Systems Formation, Low- and
High-redshift Galaxies, Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Cosmology.

Confirmed speakers include: S. Aalto, P. Andre`, P. Andreani, R. Bachiller,
A. Blain, J. Brand, P. Cox, A. Dutrey, A. Franceschini, G.L. Granato,
S. Guilloteau*, D. Hughes, K. Menten, S. Molinari, J. Richer*, P. Schilke,
L. Tacconi

[*] tentative

In addition there will be room for a number of contributed talks, although the
number of participants is limited in the spirit of a highly interactive 
workshop. At this time, electronic registrations are open at the official 
workshop web site http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~elba03/
where you can also find additional information on the preliminary program and
travel arrangements. The registration fee is Euro 150, which will include
the social dinner and the coutesy bus from/to Firenze and Pisa airports.

Looking forward to seeing you in Elba next Spring,

The Organizing Committee: 
Andrea Cimatti, Roberto Maiolino, Emanuela Masini, Antonella Natta,
Leonardo Testi, Malcolm Walmsley